Three killed after missile hits fishing vessel in Baltic Sea off Russia

Three people were killed while four others suffered varying degrees of injury after a fishing vessel was accidentally struck by a missile fired from a Russian Navy ship in the Baltic Sea off Russia’s Kaliningrad region on Tuesday, March 19.

The crew of the locally-owned trawler Kapitan Lobanov said the missile strike resulted in an onboard explosion and a subsequent blaze, prompting them to activate a distress signal at around 11:00 local time on Tuesday.

The trawler later reportedly sank due to the damage it sustained.

Of the seven crewmembers, four were safely rescued while the remaining three were killed. The fatalities included two individuals who were initially declared missing but were later found deceased.

One survivor is in serious condition and is being treated in hospital in Pionersky.

Local media said that the missile was fired from a warship as part of scheduled exercises being conducted by the Russian Baltic Fleet.

Another missile fired during the same exercise reportedly ended up in the fishing nets of another vessel. It remains unclear whether this weapon had detonated.